And Then My World Turned Upside Down
by artszy
Summary: Elope with your lover and get married,is it that easy?Not if you are being stalked by a mysterious stranger,with unknown intentions.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone. It's _**Artszy. **_Previously known as _**Chibimimi.**_

**Disclaimer:**-

I don't own Escaflowne or it's characters.

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><p><strong>And My World Turned Upside Down<strong>

**Chapter :-1**

"**Escape" **

Hitomi fidgeted with her necklace for what seemed like the millionth time. She shifted on the edge of her seat casting a nervous glance towards the Airport Entrance,half expecting to see a very familiar person. She sighed with relief to see no one she knew, has entered the gate.

The old couple sitting to her left smiled at her understandingly.

"Waiting for your lover, dear?" asked the old woman.

The question was quite simple,but it left her speechless.

Lover?Love?Is this really love?She remembered reading it somewhere, "Love is One's Biggest Strength".She was also doing this for her _**love**_,then why was she feeling so restless ?There she was, boarding a flight all alone. She was scared,lonely and everything felt utterly wrong .

Whoever wrote that peachy line , it only looked good in romance novels and not in real life drama.

Unable to respond to their question Hitomi smiled weakly at them,trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall.

_For the love of Gaea,please don't let them be on my flight. I don't want to be caught red-handed. This much of embarrassment is enough for a lifetime. She prayed silently._

As if answering her prayers, the couple rose from their seats and moved towards the security gate to catch their recently announced flight to Basram. They smiled at Hitomi bidding adieu and Hitomi smiled back in relief.

"Thank God"she muttered ,watching the retreating backs of the couple.

The loudspeaker at the terminal boomed again,catching her attention.

"Flight No 75890,Vionne from Palas to Fanelia is ready for it's departure. All passengers are requested to head towards the security gate no 2."

With a sigh of relief ,Hitomi rose from her seat,with a new determination. She glanced one last time towards the Airport entrance. A part of her feeling disappointed and sad while another part feeling finally free and happy. She was not scared like before. None of the familiar faces appeared at the entrance. She started walking towards the security check point with a clear resolution.

After all, what has been done can't be changed anymore. It wasn't time for 'What ifs...',it was time to 'face the consequences.'

~~~To Be continued...

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><p><strong>Author's Note:-<strong>

** It is a Test upload. If this upload also fails. Then I'll take down this story**

I don't know why,but whenever I upload a document to Fanfictionpress,something goes wrong. Some sentences go missing. Few words go missing,leaving the story jumbled up and meaningless. I know that, there will be typos and grammatical mistakes in my story,because sometimes I write too fast and misspell words here and there and sometimes it's because of my poor knowledge of the language. After all English is not my mother tongue. But at any rate I'm not so stupid that I'll eat up half of the sentences of my own story.

This has happened earlier,when I uploaded stories by another pen name. I had to take down all my stories for this reason.

I'm using Open Office Organization,Latest Mozilla Firefox,Windows XP Sp3,if I still can't upload it,then may be I'll never be able to upload.

If you are reading this story please review and let me know what you think.

Sorry about the crappy story name and summary. I'm not good with either of them.

I don't have a Beta Reader and like I said my English is very weak,because it's not my native language,so if you find any mistakes do let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:-**I don't own Escaflowne .*sob*

**Author's Note:-**

**Thank you to those who read,reviewed,subscribed and also who read but didn't review... the last chapter.I hope you people will stick to the end of the story.  
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**karmy 014:-**Thank you for your wonderful review. The first chapter was a bit small because ,I was not sure if I'll be able to upload it properly. But don't worry I plan on continuing and the chapters will be longer from now on.

_This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful Beta _**Suils Saifir**_. Thank you so much. Not because you Beta read this story. This is for all your support and kindness to all the fan fiction authors here, including me. For always being there, giving those encouraging and helpful reviews, suggestions and for always helping us. You rock girl!_

**And then My World Turned Upside Down**_  
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Chapter-2

(Revelation)

The car screeched into a halt in front of the solid iron gates. Hitomi got out of the car to admire the mansion that stood before her majestically.

She paid the driver and moved towards the watchman guarding the front gate. After giving him her identity and few minor security checks, the gates were opened.

On closer inspection the place looked even more beautiful. The entire mansion was built with white marble. The rose garden surrounding the house looked beautiful and well maintained. A carved stone fountain decorated the front of the main gate.

Hitomi was impressed. Her best friend, Yukari Uchida had told her, that she was married to a rich businessman,but Hitomi never imagined Amano to be this rich. She was very happy for her friend.

She spotted the red-haired girl standing on the front porch. As soon as the excited girl saw Hitomi,she tackled her into a bear hug,grinning maniacally. Hitomi was breathless for a moment,but she returned the gesture happily.

Hitomi and Yukari had been best friends since kindergarten. After high school,she had moved to Fanelia with her parents and Hitomi had stayed back in Asturia with her family. But both friends had stayed in touch even after that,visiting each other whenever possible. Later Yukari had fallen in love with one of her classmates, Amano Susumo, who was son of a rich businessman. They had tied the knot soon after their graduation.

After directing a butler to take the luggage to one of the rooms prepared for Hitomi, Yukari dragged her to a patio, where a maid had prepared tea for both of them.

The place was decorated with expensive rugs, invaluable art pieces and intricate furniture that gave the impression it most probably cost a fortune. The walls had a simple vintage look but were covered with the finest draperies.

"I'm sorry Hitomi, Amano had to leave on an urgent business trip. He has apologized for not being able to receive you." Yukari said offering Hitomi a cup as both of them settled into a settee.

This suited Hitomi fine. She wanted to discuss everything with Yukari first,before pouring her poor soul in front of someone she barely knew.

"I know you must be tired and should get some rest first, but can you please briefly fill me in with the details? I have been dying to know the whole story, ever since I got your first call." Yukari said eyeing her friend warily.

"To be honest I wanted to talk to you before I got any rest. I have been so scared and confused Yukari that I really need someone to tell me if I did the right thing. Before this I don't think I'll be able to get any rest." Hitomi replied, putting down her cup.

Hitomi continued with a wistful look on her face, "I met Allen Schezar for the first time in the Aston Mansion. Uncle Grava is a friend of my father and his daughter Millerna is a good friend of mine. Allen worked there as the Chief Security Officer. I felt a tingling sensation the first time I saw him. He was so handsome & well mannered. He was just perfect, like an angel."

"I started visiting Millerna more than I used to. Allen was always there. At first he was just friendly,but gradually his behavior changed. We started spending more time with each other and one day he proposed to me. I invited him to a Valentine's Day party I was throwing in my college. It was magical; everything was perfect, but then... "

_She was dressed in a white gown and Allen in a blue tuxedo. He looked like a prince or __rather more like__ a knight ready to save his princess. Hitomi had the best time of her life. She was laughing, dancing, enjoying herself, but she__ soon__ realized Allen wasn't having as much fun as her._

_She pulled him from her group of friends and led him to the __gardens, where there were less people. She had begged him to tell her what was bothering him. After much persuasion and hesitation Allen had replied sadly, "Hitomi you are the daughter of a rich businessman and I'm a middle class guy. How do you think this relationship will work out?"_

_She had tried to convince him that money didn't matter. Her brother loved her too much and that he would talk to their parents. With her brother's help they would happily give their blessing but that didn't ease the tension._

_She could still feel __he was skeptical of the whole situation, so she decided to clear any doubt that was left._

_She remembered the first time she had invited Allen to her house. Her brother Mamoru was furious. Without any word his fist had connected with Allen's jaw leaving him on __the ground bleeding._

_"How dare you Schezar? How dare you try to trick Hitomi? Don't you know she is my sister?"_

_After a pained glance at Hitomi he had left the house,without saying a word._

_Hitomi __had been furious with Mamoru. But he had stated simply that, Allen was a playboy and he would hurt her, but he had refused to give her any other information__._

_Allen had purposefully avoided her after that incident,but Hitomi had refused to give up. After a lot of persuasion Allen had finally agreed to talk to her. _

_He told her __that he had previously dated a girl named Eries Sara,but it didn't last long and they had broken up their relationship after a mutual understanding._

_Hitomi believed him in a heartbeat._

_But their reunion was short lived. She was soon informed that she would be married to a friend of her brother._

_Hitomi was heartbroken. Who she was marrying, when she was getting married—that was not necessary anymore. What mattered more to her was that she was no longer getting married to the man she loved, Allen Schezar. _

_The young lovers were devastated and __so they decided to take an extreme step._

_Hitomi immediately called Yukari, because no one in her family knew where she lived and she had readily agreed to help her friend. Hitomi had left the country a few days before the wedding with some cash & jewellery so that they would be able to start a new life with the money. Allen was supposed to meet her in Fanelia in few days. From there they were supposed to go to some other country and start a new life inconspicuously._

Hitomi tiredly finished the story.

Yukari could only gawk at her. Her shy natured friend Hitomi who didn't even talk to any guy at school. Who considered every man as a necessary evil,had run away from her arranged marriage, not to mention after stealing some money, to marry another guy.

Yukari tapped her index finger on her chin.

_This Allen guy must be really something; Hitomi is definitely not the kind of person to betray her family. After all the Kanzaki siblings' love for one another was famous all over Austria. Everyone knew Mamoru Kanzaki loved his little sister to death._

Yukari remembered a specific situation when Hitomi had caught a minor cold. Her elder brother had immediately dumped all his work to come back to see her. Which had resulted in a million dollar loss to the Kanzakis.

This thought triggered something in Yukari's mind.

_If Mamoru never cared about money, then why would he now?_

But she decided not to voice her was well known for her temper and stubbornness and she had no time to deal with that. She had something better to prepare for, an evil smile adorned her face as a thought entered her mind.

~~~To be continued

**So what's on Yukari's mind?To know read the next chapter.**

**Thank you to all who read this story.  
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**I'll be more happy, if I get a review,it gives my ego some satisfaction that this story didn't go completely unnoticed:)**

**So please be kind enough to hit the shiny button below; that says "review this chapter".**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter-3**

Hitomi woke up to the chirping of the little bird that was perched near the window. She stifled a yawn enjoying the morning sunshine.

Yukari had dropped the bomb the previous day. She had made it clear that they would be shopping the next day, because she had a ball to attend and Hitomi would be accompanying her whether she liked it or not.

The prospect of being found out by one of her father's contemporaries had scared her in the beginning, but Yukari had assured her that it was going to be a masquerade ball and no one would recognize her.

There was a light knock on the door. Yukari entered the room with a maid carrying tea for her.

"Good morning. Bed tea for the princess", Yukari said in a sing song voice.

She was already dressed to go out.

"I want you to be ready in an hour Hitomi. We will be leaving by 10. And Guess what? Amano left his credit card with me so that we can shop till we drop!" Yukari informed her very enthusiastically.

"Do I really need to go shopping?" Hitomi asked taking the tea from the maid.

"Yes, because being the tomboy, that you are, I know your luggage must only have jeans and t-shirts and nothing else." Yukari said eyeing her best friend for affirmation of the statement.

"But they are comfortable", she mumbled trying to hide a blush.

Yukari laughed heading for the door already.

"Alright so 10 A.M sharp, baby . I want both of us to look impressive for the Masquerade Ball. The Ganesha Family are one of the most respectable and influential families of Fanelia. They are close friends of Amano's father and they also have business tie-ups with us. Amano will be very upset if we miss it." Yukari said before leaving the room with a casual wave.

Hitomi sighed, enjoying the last sip of her herbal tea. She spent the next hour taking a bath, getting ready and having breakfast, before the two girls finally headed out.

The two girls spent the entire day shopping, catching up with each other. So at the end of the day they were both tired and sprawled under the large oak tree in Yukari's lawn soaking the last rays of dying sunlight.

The shopping and chatting had relaxed Hitomi to some extent. Her eyes were closed peacefully , the tree leaves playing hide and seek of shadow and light on her face, while Yukari was trying to find patterns in passing clouds.

Yukari glanced at Hitomi from her position. She looked calm. So she decided the time now was as good as any.

"So, Hitomi?"

"Hmm…?"

"When will be Allen coming?"

"He said in a couple of days."

"Why did you come here alone? You know how risky it is. You have never travelled alone."

Hitomi's borrows creased as she thought about it for a while.

"We knew Mamoru will visit him as soon as he finds me gone. So we decided to travel separately."

.

Although she didn't understand herself how travelling alone would help in that case. She had pleaded Allen to think about it, but he was very sure it was a brilliant idea and in the end Hitomi had ended up listening to him.

"Hitomi?"

"Umm…?"

"Why do you think Mamoru opposed to this marriage? You know he never cared about money, whenever your happiness was concerned? "

"May be he started caring about money after all." Hitomi replied flatly.

"That is what Allen said. I mean, what else must be the reason? In fact that's why Allen asked me to take some money from home. If Mamoru is planning to keep everything to himself, he can. But we need some money for ourselves because, thanks to his graciousness Allen had to leave his job at the Aston's. Fifty million is a negotiable compensation."

Yukari was shocked with Hitomi's reasoning.

_Now this was disturbing . No matter how much Hitomi loved Allen, for her to be so suddenly against her family was really not like her at all. This Allen guy must have brainwashed Hitomi somehow. He seemed to have caught a good grasp on Hitomi's thinking process. She was thinking how he wanted her to think. She was doing what he wanted her to do. He could even persuade her to steal money, making it sound like it's completely legal. Either he was too cunning or excessively practical. But in either way he seemed like a bad influence._

Yukari made a silent resolution to thoroughly interrogate this Allen guy before letting Hitomi go with him anywhere, but for the time being she decided to concentrate on the upcoming ball.

Yukari was wearing an off-shoulder silver sequined gown .Her striking red hair was pulled into a bun and was decorated with a diamond brooch.

Whereas Hitomi decided to settle with the simple satin chiffon dress she had picked up while shopping. It was a French gray mermaid long dress with beaded and sheer on the top and scoop neck.

The lower half of the bodice was asymmetrically pleated with an off-centered applique

at the waist.

Her golden brown hair was pulled into a curly hair up-do and secured with a brooch that matched the brooch on her gray high heels.

Their limo stopped in front of a large mansion, similar to Yukari's but even larger. The chauffeur opened the car door to display the grand hall where the ball was being held. Two armed guards in red uniform were standing on either side of the door.

Yukari passed an invitation card to one of them. Both of the guards bowed deeply letting them enter the hall.

All eyes were on them instantly. Hitomi had attended many balls. With her social status it was a daily occurrence, but she had never felt so awkward in her life. She was among a group of people, where nobody knew her, yet all of them were scrutinizing her every move with their hawk like eyes. It was a good thing that she had already put on her mask.

Yukari however looked very confident and ignored everyone until she found the one person she was looking for. The said person also looked in her direction. As soon as she saw Yukari, she made way through the throng of people to reach Yukari.

"Yukari. You came." She said squeezing her in a giant hug.

The people surrounding them didn't seem too happy with this wild gesture but the girls ignored them.

"Of course sweetheart. You know I won't miss your invitation for anything in the world." Yukari replied happily returning the hug affectionately.

Merle's eyes quickly moved to Hitomi who was trying vanish into thin air because of the sudden unwanted attention.

Yukari following her gaze turned around to introduce her to Hitomi.

"Merle this is Hi…"

"Eries Sara." Hitomi quickly finished for Yukari, offering Merle a hand.

_Oh great, talk about being desperate. I just introduced myself as my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. _Hitomi thought warily, but she maintained her smile nevertheless.

Merle raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. She shook her hand carefully and replied "I'm Merle Ganesha."

Merle was a thin girl of average height and very tanned. Her hair was colored bright pink, which complimented her elegant blue gown. She looked gorgeous, but secretly Hitomi wondered, how this girl managed with the punk look in a high society without being judged.

Somehow this tawny little girl was making Hitomi nervous. All the time she talked to Yukari her eyes never left Hitomi, who squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze.

Yukari feeling Hitomi's uneasiness dragged Merle to a couple who were standing nearby, sparing Hitomi an apologetic look.

Hitomi breathed a sigh of relief, the looks Merle kept giving her made her feel as if she was suspected to be a criminal in disguise, even though she had never met the girl before. Something about her told Hitomi that she didn't trust her one bit.

Even from where they were standing now, she could feel Merle's cat like eyes inspecting her every move. So she decided to retreat to a corner, where she wouldn't be an object of scrutiny anymore.

The people around her soon lost interest in her as new guests started arriving. Hitomi was completely bored. She scanned the hall for Yukari but couldn't find her, so she took the drink offered by a serving waiter. It was a bit sour but tasty. She was wondering if it was piscus juice when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned on her heels to find herself face to face with a man in an expensive suit, wearing a black mask. He was a good few inches taller than her.

Smiling at her he offered his hand, "May I have this dance please?"

Hitomi hesitated for a moment. She didn't want to dance or be the center of attention but somehow saying no to this guy who had the cutest smile she had ever seen seemed impossible. Also she didn't want to be impolite. So she smiled politely and accepted his offer.

The young man proved to be a skilled dancer. He twirled her effortlessly into the Fanelian dance tune. Hitomi could feel everyone's gaze on them but she decided to ignore them and enjoy the dance. Within a minute Hitomi had forgotten everyone around her. This person had a charismatic persona, which dulled everything else around him. When the dance ended, Hitomi was horrified to find every couple around them were curtsying to their dancing partners and removing their masquerade masks. Apparently it was a custom in Fanelian masquerades to remove your mask to show your face to your masquerade partner after you have attended the dancing ball.

Her dance partner also removed his mask. He had beautiful mahogany eyes that sparkled with mischief .His dark bangs were covering his beautifulface. He was the exact opposite of Allen in every feature, but he was handsome none the less. Hitomi was transfixed by his gaze. She itched to remove his hair out of his face but stopped suddenly.

_What was she doing? She was in love with another man and soon to be married and now she was crushing on another. _

She felt her chest clench with guilt.

But before she could make a hasty exit, her partner caught her wrist and asked her to join him for a drink. Hitomi wanted to refuse him by making some false excuse but she registered the nasty looks that were being cast in her direction from other guests for breaking the tradition. She nodded politely. She couldn't do more damage to Yukari and Amano's reputation by refusing him. People seemed to look at this guy with lots of respect. So she smiled tightly, nodding her head in meek response. She let him pull her towards the bar.

Apparently her partner was unfazed by her breaking with tradition, which was a relief for Hitomi and it looked like people had forgiven her because her partner seemed to be okay with the entire incident.

When they reached a uncrowded corner he grabbed two glasses of the fruit juice from a waiter.

"I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself before." He said handing her a glass.

"My name is Van Fanel." He said, again giving her one of his infectious smiles.

Hitomi couldn't help but smile in return.

"I'm Hi...Eries Sara." She replied hastily, correcting her mistake.

"Eries Sara." Van repeated carefully as if he recognized her name.

Hitomi prayed with all her heart that he didn't. After all she didn't know anything about Allen's ex-girlfriend. She never thought it was necessary. Now she wondered why she hadn't foreseen this situation. She took a sip from her glass, casting a nervous glance in Van's direction.

He chose this exact moment to reply, "I think I've heard your name before."

Hitomi choked on her drink, getting another set of glares from people.

But Van replied quickly, "But of course it must be some other Eries Aston. I believe this is our first meeting."

"Indeed." Hitomi replied quickly, eager to get away from this man who supposedly knew the real Sara Aston or any Sara Aston available on Gaea. Their world could be so small sometimes.

"So where are you from, Miss Sara?" Van said eying her curiously.

Theway he pronounced her pseudonym, it made her feel as if he knew something. So Hitomi decided to weave another set of gossamer to lose this guy.

"Oh I'm from Basram."She replied happily.

"Excellent. I was in Basram for a few years. So where did you live in Basram?" Van asked again.

Bummer. Hitomi cursed silently. She had never been to Basram in her life. She had been a homesick girl all her life and didn't like traveling that much. She had practically spent her entire life in Asturia. Except for once, when she was very little, she had been to Freid to visit Millerna's elder sister. Now she wondered why she didn't say Freid. But then she was sure must Van have visited Freid too. He looked like he was from a highly influential family. And she didn't remember much about Freid to talk to him.

She glanced at him. He was silently enjoying his drink, waiting patiently for her to reply. He looked amused as well. Hitomi was wondering what to say when she spotted Yukari coming in her direction.

Hitomi had never been this happy in her life. She was happy to be rescued and also furious with Yukari for leaving her on her own.

Yukari scanned the hall for Hitomi. It wasn't a difficult task, because she already knew what she was wearing. She spotted her chatting with a handsome young man. A few men standing nearby were glaring daggers at the seemingly ignorant person, because he had taken away their opportunity to chat with this mysterious and beautiful lady.

Yukari chuckled remembering how Hitomi had vaguely explained to her that she didn't want to stand out in the crowd, so she had chosen such a plain attire.

Well she is certainly doing a bad job. Yukari thought. But then she saw Hitomi's ashen face. She knew something was wrong, so she decided to interfere in the scene.

"Van!" Yukari said when she came closer.

Hitomi's face instantly broke into a relieved smile.

Van turned around to smile at Yukari, reaching out to give her a friendly hug.

"Where have you been? I was wondering when you would join us." He replied happily.

"Oh I was being maimed by your sister for not attending her previous tea party." Yukari provided happily.

"Eries, I suppose you already met Van. He is Merle's cousin and they are very close." Yukari said to Hitomi.

_Oh! His entire family has a problem with me. Hitomi thought sulky. But she was glad that Yukari had remembered to call her Eries instead of Hitomi._

Van and Yukari were quickly engaged in their own conversation, forgetting Hitomi entirely. Which was a good thing for her. The discussion mostly revolved around Amano and how he was unable to attend the party, his business and other harmless topics.

Yukari nodded at Hitomi from time to time, as if she was supposed to know what they were talking about. But Hitomi didn't mind. She was happy enough to be left out of the discussion.

"So Eries. I heard you will be living with the Susomos for a while?" Van asked her suddenly.

"Oh yes, she will be." Yukari answered helpfully.

"Well then, it looks like we will meet again soon." Van said, with the amused look back on his face.

Hitomi nervously gulped the last sip of her drink.

So the devil has an in with Yukari and Amano. Looks like I'll have to research Basram when I get back to Yukari's house. Hitomi sighed tiredly.

A few minutes later Merle decided to join them and insisted that Van should meet some of her guests. Van was reluctant to leave at first, but then decided to join Merle and excused himself. Merle followed him, casting Hitomi one last angry glance.

Hitomi was trying to understand what her problem was when she realized for the first time since they had arrived in the party that she was alone with Yukari.

"You! How could you leave me alone like that?" She demanded from Yukari.

"Well, Merle seemed awfully interested in you, which was even unusual of her. I thought you would be more comfortable if I dragged her away."

"Oh interested is not the word. She kept giving me those scary looks as if I have done something wrong. May be I shouldn't have come to the party uninvited like this."

"Don't be silly. Merle is a very friendly girl. It's certainly has nothing to do with the invitation. She is a keen judge of character. May be she felt you were lying."

"That is another reason I should have stayed away from this party. I have been lying blatantly to Van about everything and it looks like he suspects me too."

"Oh don't worry Hitomi. We will leave the party soon." Yukari replied sympathetically.

A few minutes after all the pleasantries were done, Hitomi and Yukari headed back to their limo. Hitomi removed her mask as soon as they were inside the car. The feathers attached to it made it itchy and also the string attached for fastening was beginning to hurt.

Just then she felt a gentle tapping on the window next to her. Instinctively she rolled down the window without thinking much.

Van was standing there. In all his glory, smiling down at her like an angel.

"Hope we will meet soon." he said holding Hitomi's hand and dropping a kiss on top of it.

Hitomi was dazed, she watched him back away slowly with an ache in her heart.

The car moved again, leaving him behind like a speck of dust, but she couldn't forget his beautiful smile.


End file.
